I'm interested in using GV to make calls from my mobile over the data network (3G or WiFi). I used the 403 number I got from freephoneline.ca to register for GV.

I can call with GV using Google's mobile portal, but that causes my cellphone to ring, then calls the other line, so it's still using the voice network. This is a problem for me as my goal is to be able to make free North American calls from outside my local area (Vancouver). I want to make the calls over 3G or WiFi, as data does not have any roaming charges within Canada (at least from my provider, Rogers).

I finally found a SIP client for my Blackberry, Blackvoib, but I don't know what to do from this point on. freephoneline.ca charges $50 to get the SIP password to be able to use third party SIP clients. Any free alternatives? I figure there might be something to do with this IPTel stuff that was posted before but I didn't really understand it. Whatever the setup, obviously I must be able to receive the confirmation number call from GV when I add the SIP-enabled number.

Can someone help me out? I paid Rogers $2000 after spending a month in Toronto, even though I was making Toronto-local calls and half of it was for receiving :'(

Still trying to figure this out. I live in Calgary (403 arwa code) and am currently on a Pay As You Go plan. what benefits does GV offer? Does the American number that I pick when signing up matter or am I free to choose any number in any state? Anso, what exactly does Gizmo offer on top of this?

lol I still have an unused invite from october 09, and just found this thread today. Is there any point in signing up for google voice if we're in Canada? I don't mind paying $10 to change it to a 416 or something if that's possible, but I heard that only folks in US can call your number =\

lol I still have an unused invite from october 09, and just found this thread today. Is there any point in signing up for google voice if we're in Canada? I don't mind paying $10 to change it to a 416 or something if that's possible, but I heard that only folks in US can call your number =\

I didn't know this thread existed before today. After skimming through it, I thought I'd post in detail my work around for getting Google Voice to work on my Ottawa cell phone and why I have such a setup:

What is Google Voice?

Think of Google Voice as a call forwarding service. Google Voice gives you a free U.S. Telephone number that can be used as a gateway to receive incoming / make outgoing calls to anywhere in Canada / U.S. unlimited no charge. It also allows you to receive and send text messages to any cell phone unlimited (for free). Google Voice is to be used with an existing land-line / wireless service and does not work on its own.

Can I get a Canadian Telephone number with Google Voice?

Unfortunately, Google Voice is only supported in U.S. at this time, But it does allow you to place outgoing calls to Canadian Numbers and allows you to have calls received on its number forwarded to a 403 area code (which is the only Canadian Area Code supported).

So how is Google Voice useful?

Incoming Calls to your U.S. Google Voice Number:

When you sign up with Google Voice, you can choose a phone number in any area code in the Continental U.S. After Choosing a Google Voice number, you then have to input an existing U.S. Telephone number (or 403 Canadian number) that Google Voice will forward calls too. I have chosen a Chicago, Illinois Google Voice Number (lets say 773-123-4567). When it comes to incoming, the purpose of having a Google Voice number is so that your American Contacts can call you for free. I have family in Chicago and Dallas. I would say the majority of Americans have a cellphone and landline plan that includes calls to the continental U.S. at no long distance charges. So my family in Dallas can call my Chicago number as a local call. When someone calls my Google Voice number, Google Voice forwards the call to the number I entered during setup.

Outgoing calls using your Google Voice account:

As I mentioned above, Google Voice allows you make free unlimited calls to any phone number in U.S and Canada. To place an outbound call, you would log onto www.google.com/voice (this is also connected to your gmail account / contacts). You can then type in the name of a contact to call or just any phone number and click Call. Google Voice will call the number you have setup with them (your existing U.S. Telephone number or Canadian 403 number). You answer the call. Google Voice then calls the number you entered on the website.

Is this useful for any Canadians outside area code 403?

Yes. I currently have Google Voice setup with my Ottawa cell phone service (with WIND MOBILE). My Wind plan already provides me with unlimited inbound/outbound Canada-Wide Calling and unlimited in/out SMS to anyone in North America. My personal usefulness of Google Voice is just mainly for my communication with my American Contacts. But if your existing landline / wireless setup is more limited than my WIND cellphone service, that means Google Voice can be more useful to you.

How do I get Google Voice to forward calls to my Ottawa WIND mobile service?

There is a voip service called Voip.ms. Although they are not a free service, their long distance rates are the most competitive I've ever seen. Voip.ms provides its voip service in a split way. Termination (which is basically another way of saying Outbound calling) and DID (Inbound calling). You don't need to have both, but both are priced very competitively. The charges for making an outbound call to a number in Canada is $0.0052 (that is 0.52 cents/minute) charged in 6 second increments and it's $0.011 (that is 1.1 cents/minute) to place U.S. outbound calls (but the U.S. calling is irrelevant to my setup as you'll soon see). To purchase a telephone number for incoming calls, it is $0.99 / month with incoming calls charged at $0.01 (that is 1 cents/minute) with billing at 6 second increments.

As mentioned many times already, Google Voice will only forward to existing U.S. telephone numbers (or a 403 number in Canada). Since I live outside the 403 geographical area, means I'll need to use Voip.ms as described above. I would purchase any U.S. DID (or 403 area code DID) from Voip.ms which will come with a charge of $0.99 / month. I setup Google Voice to forward all calls to my Voip.ms DID (lets say Chicago DID 312-123-4567). I will then setup voip.ms to forward calls received on the DID to my Wind Mobile Ottawa cell number.

Outbound Calls:
- Using any internet connection (I have 50MB data plan with my Wind Mobile service) log onto www.google.com/voice
- input telephone number I want to call and click Call (this is the extent of the data you will use)
- Google Voice calls 312-123-4567 (Voip.ms DID)
- Voip.ms forwards the call to 613-123-4567 (Wind Mobile cell #)
- I pick up the call
- Google Voice calls the number chosen from the website
- My Google Voice number is passed to the caller as my Caller ID

Incoming SMS:
- someone sends a text to 773-123-4567 (Google Voice number)
- Google Voice displays the text the next time you login to www.google.com/voice
- Google Voice ALSO converts the text to email and sends it to the address you provided on setup.
- I have gmail email/calendar/contacts setup as an Active Sync exchange server so that emails automatically pop up on my cell phone (which means, any text messages sent to 773-123-4567 get converted to email and sent to my gmail account which pops up on my phone immediately)

Outgoing SMS:
- If someone has sent me a text to 773-123-4567 first which generated the email to my phone as described above, means I can just hit reply to the email with what I want to say.
- Google Voice converts the email back to SMS and sends it back to the recipient.
- If I'm sending a text without first receiving one means I will need to log onto www.google.com/voice and type in the phone number (or click on the contact) and click SMS. Though my WIND mobile plan includes unlimited text to any phone number in Canada/U.S. so I don't have to go this route (only if I want to pass my Google Voice as the caller ID of the SMS).

What Charges can I expect from the above process including Voip.ms

As you already know, Google Voice is completely free, but it will only forward calls to another U.S. Number (or 403 Canadian number).

With my setup, anytime someone calls my Google Voice number, I am charged $0.0152 (that is 1.52 cents/minute charged in 6 second increments) from Voip.ms (in addition to the $0.99 monthly charge for the Voip.ms DID). 1.52 cents/minute is the combination of $0.01 and $0.0052. Remember Google Voice forwards the call your Voip.ms DID (any calls received to your DID is 1 cent/minute) then Voip.ms forwards the call to my Ottawa number which is charged at their termination rate of $0.0052) which gives the combined rate of $0.0152.

Why bother using Google Voice when I could just strictly use Voip.ms?

This is an option I'm considering, but the drawbacks here are not being able to SMS over voip. My American contacts would basically be calling me on 312-123-4567 (voip.ms) and texting me at 613-123-4567 (wind mobile cell).

Is there a cheaper alternative to Voip.ms?

You could use Magic Jack which the total cost over the year is $20 as opposed to Voip.ms which is $11.88 over the year plus $0.0152/minute on each call.

I thought also about exploring Free Phone Line as you could pick up a 403 area code to use. I believe there is a one time setup fee of $50 then its free for life. The reason why I haven't gone this route is I hope sooner rather than later, that Google Voice will be supported in Canada which means using Voip.ms, Magicjack, Freephoneline.ca will no longer be needed.

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Again, Google Voice is very useful for people who currently live in the 403 area code (or in the U.S.). Should you not live in these areas, then you will need to use a ITSP such as Voip.ms to be the middle man to forward your calls from Google Voice to your Canadian number until Google Voice becomes available in Canada (if they ever do). I believe paying $11.88 / YEAR (12 x $0.99) plus 1.52 cents/minute (billed in 6 second increments) is a small price to pay to enjoy unlimited calling/SMS to/FROM anywhere in Canada/U.S .

lol Djino. Just to clear some things up. Freephoneline is free :P, if you want to use it on an ATA/ SIP client then you pay the $50. Sign up for a 403 number,and just go on the "followme"settings, and forward it to your Wind number.

lol Djino. Just to clear some things up. Freephoneline is free :P, if you want to use it on an ATA/ SIP client then you pay the $50. Sign up for a 403 number,and just go on the "followme"settings, and forward it to your Wind number.

"Google Voice is not available in your country.
Thanks for visiting Google Voice. We're not yet open for users outside the US, but are planning to expand our service to additional countries in the future".

Does this mean that I still have to sign up for an invitation? Any information is much appreciated!

No, it means that GV checks the IP address you're coming from, determines it's in Canada, and tells you that you can't sign up. There's a simple way around that: use a US-based proxy like http://hotspotshield.com/ to sign-up for GV.

Once you've done that you can subsequently access your GV account from any IP including from Canada, i.e. you no longer need the proxy.

"Google Voice is not available in your country.
Thanks for visiting Google Voice. We're not yet open for users outside the US, but are planning to expand our service to additional countries in the future".

Does this mean that I still have to sign up for an invitation? Any information is much appreciated!

Yeah, the sign up process for Google Voice verifys that your IP Address is a U.S. IP address. Once the sign up process is complete, Google no longer verifies your IP addres.

What you need to do is what the previous person posted is mask your IP address during the sign up process. Use the http://hotspotshield.com/ and then go back to signing up with Google Voice. Once its complete and you have your U.S. Telephone number provided by Google Voice, you can remove hotspotshield and use Google Voice from anywhere.